Chapter 1: Hellfire
Hellfire is the pilot episode of Garo: Honoo no Kokuin. Synopsis A large-scale witch hunt was carried out in a particular kingdom. In the middle of the burning of one such witch, a child was born. Suddenly, a silver wolf appeared and saved the baby from the flames. Since then, much time has passed... Plot Summary 17 years before the events of the series, a pregnant Makai Priestess named Anna was sentenced to death by burning at the stake for the crime of witchcraft by the Church. The royal adviser Mendosa claims that she used her dark magic to make the King become ill and that only by cleansing the land of this "species" would the King recover. As she was being burned, she went into labor and gave birth and her husband; the Makai Knight Zoro, broke free from his prison and rescued their son from the flames, fleeing the country of Variante with the King's soldiers in pursuit. After the opening, the show flashes forward 17 years to a brothel where a man talks to a prostitute about the history of Variante. The year after Anna's execution, agents of Makai Order were hunted down by the Church and as a result over 100 Knights and Priests have been slaughtered while others were tortured to death. A short, unpleasant scene is also shown where it is implied that in some rare cases for female Priests, they were raped by the King's soldiers before being killed. The owner of the brothel tells German Luis that his son is outside waiting for him, but he tells him that he's not done yet. He then tries to talk to his son from the window, but the boy throws a rock at his head causing German's nose to bleed. Meanwhile, one of the visitors of the brothel wakes up in a room and wanders down the hall into another room where he sees a naked woman, only to be devoured by a purple worm-like Horror that is emanating from her body. Mendosa is in his study and tells the servant Octavia that he has found the location of the now grown baby and the silver knight and that he has sent a battalion of archers and soldiers to burn the house down with them inside. German then tells the woman (and by default the audience) about the Knights and how they are assigned to seal demons called Horrors, and that long before churches existed, they were humanity's protectors. While he is explaining this, the Horror tries to sneak up behind him to eat him, only to be slashed and stabbed by his short swords that he draws from his coat nearby. The prostitute is revealed to be a Horror and she curses him saying that he was the silver knight all along. German says that he is indeed the silver knight, Zoro, sworn to kill monsters such as her and that his son Leon is the Golden Knight Garo. Back at the house, the captain of the guard bursts in and Leon says that he has been waiting for him as he is tasked to destroy Horrors such as him before donning his armor. The armor blazes and cracks and then he battles the captain who is in fact a gigantic Horror in human form. Leon makes short work of the Horror, stabbing it in the forehead and then slicing it apart. A flash back shows German as Zoro telling his infant son that his mother gave her life to save his and to never forget it. Back in the present, Leon berates his father for letting the soldiers follow him home, but German says that it was a test to see if he could handle the Horror on his own. Leon asks if they are going to Variante and German says they are, both of them riding off on their horses to the kingdom. At the castle, King Fernando is celebrating the birthday of his son, Prince Alphonse and blesses him by saying that he hopes the Knight of Light may watch over him. Alphonse's mother gives him a gift, a golden cross amulet she had as a child with a very familiar emblem on it. Octavia sees this and shows fear at the emblem. Elsewhere in the castle, Mendosa says that soon his plans will be finished, as he checks a strange machine. Cast *''to be added'' *''to be added'' Notes to be added Errors *''to be added'' Video Release * Hellfire is featured on Disc 1 of the DVD and Blu Ray combo pack set from Funimation. External Links *Watch on Funimation *Watch on Funimation's Youtube page *Watch on Anime Lab *Watch on Hulu References